


A Simple Smile

by Jonana



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Action/Adventure, All relationships are platonic, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, At least that’s what the plan is, Gen, Humor, Minecraft Manhunt, Starts casual but quickly spirals into an angsty mess, idk what this is tbh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2021-01-09
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:07:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26243896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jonana/pseuds/Jonana
Summary: “I dunno,” he finally said, shrugging. “I just supposed he was a private person. As we got older, we were out more, around thousands, sometimes more, people. I thought he was just uncomfortable.” George nodded. “Dream’s not always like he is around you guys. It’s not like there’s something big he’s hiding. Since we know each other, if it’s just us, he’ll leave it be.”George had known Dream for a long time, let’s put it that way. But, challenge after challenge, manhunt after manhunt, he’d never seen his best friend’s own face.
Comments: 25
Kudos: 287





	1. In This Challenge

“In this video, three of my friends try to hunt me down and stop me from beating Minecraft. Will they kill me first, or will I survive? You guys asked for this, and this the sixth time doing it with three hunters, so we’ll see where it takes us. Also, only a small percentage of the people watching are actually subscribed, so if you end up liking this video, consider subscribing. It’s free, and you can always change your mind if you want.”

Dream hesitated after reciting his intro, before he pressed a button on his watch to stop the recording. He looked up at George, and smiled awkwardly. George gave him a short grin in return.

They had spawned in the new world on a small island, maybe only ten to fifteen blocks in perimeter. Sand lined the outside of the island, reaching into the surprisingly calm ocean, and leaving only a small space for grass and other small plants to flourish. Sapnap and Bad were chatting a short distance away, squinting from the bright, cloudless sky.

It was a pretty world, George thought. He should enjoy the sight of it before he and the other three inevitably destroyed the place in their hunt. The ocean didn’t extend out forever, though, it ended quite abruptly. A continent was only a short swim away, with two visible biomes. 

A plains, with a few large oak trees dotting the smooth surface. A village was nestled in its center, buildings poking out of the tall grass and smoke rising from various chimneys and campfires. 

A taiga forest, dark and moody, to the left of the plains biome. George could make out a patch of thorny berry bushes at its edge, and a fox scurrying about under the trees. In his opinion, the taiga seemed less inviting than the plains.

But he wasn’t worried about where to go. That was Dream’s decision.

He turned around to look at his teammates. BadBoyHalo was rambling about something to Sapnap, who just stood and listened, looking amused. 

Bad was a good friend of his. George even used to work as staff for his old server. He was an outgoing and sweet guy, despite his name and appearance. He was on the tall side, and donned a dark cloak with the hood up that hid most of his face. An empty leather baldric wrapped around the front of him, short red horns poked out through his hood, and a light gray, checkered bandana hung from his neck.

Sapnap was his other confidant. He was the youngest out of all of them— nineteen— and was shorter than Bad, though just slightly taller than George. He was usually pretty chill, and he and George were also close friends, but Sap was a good polar opposite to Bad, in personality. He generally wore a white tee with a simple flame decal over a heavy black turtleneck. He had peach fuzz on his chin and jawline and his hair was wild and dark, contrasting with the white headband he had tied around his forehead.

George couldn’t say too much about himself, he considered himself a pretty ordinary guy, other than he was well known for his iconic round, white sunglasses. He wore a fitted cobalt blue T-shirt most of the time, with a red rectangular logo on the chest with his name on it— GeorgeNotFound— in white letters.

Dream, however. Dream was a different story.

The man was a mystery. Well, George knew him, and he knew him well, but there was still so much he and the other’s didn’t know. Dream was _pretty_ good at the game, like, he was one of the best, and that alone confused the others. He’d beaten them in these manhunts, three players to one, _three_ out of the _five_ times they’d played. His skill often infuriated them, he was always one step ahead.

This time they were going to get him, George thought, clenching his fist a bit, fighting back a smile. This round was for fun, but they were going to show him.

Nicely, of course. They were still friends, after all.

All of that aside, there was one other mystery surrounding Dream. He always wore an oversized lime green hoodie, gray sweats, and black sneakers, and that seemed moderately normal. But, what wasn’t normal was the mask— a white, plate-sized mask with a simple smiley face printed on it. It framed his face perfectly, fitting just over his nose and covering his forehead and eyes.

None of them had seen Dream’s face. They’d bug him about it, but he never budged. All they’d seen of him were his freckled cheeks and his grin. His hair was a dark blonde, but even that was often hidden under a hood.

Of course, everyone got used to it after a while. Now they never bothered to ask.

Dream was watching the ocean, his attention seemingly fixated on a pair of dolphins sailing in and out of the water. George swore he snuck a longing glance at the village, but it snapped right back to the ocean before he could even blink.

George ran a hand over his sweaty forehead and through his dark brown hair, before finally pulling his glasses over his eyes to block out the sun. “Are we starting soon? I’m gonna burn in this weather, you know.” 

Dream turned to him, and smiled. “Sure, whenever you’re ready.”

GeorgeNotFound stopped moving, his hand hovering over his hair. He narrowed his eyes. Sapnap and Bad had gone quiet as well, eyeing the speedrunner carefully from their side of the island.

But, Dream only stood still, his hands resting in the large pocket of his hoodie. The minute the manhunt began was the minute he started to run, and he didn’t look like he was headed anywhere anytime soon. George scanned his escape routes. Would he go for the village, or the ocean?

Personally, George would go for the village. It was easy to enter, loot, and leave quickly, but the loot was rarely ever good. The ocean held sunken ships and ruined cities, filled with treasure and one precious valuable: iron. But, water was heavy and slow and harder to navigate, not to mention the problem of _breathing_. Dream would take a risk like that, without question, but no one would be able to predict it.

By now, Bad and Sapnap had taken offensive positions and surrounded the speedrunner. George and Sapnap covered the ocean, and Bad blocked his path to the continent, right in between Dream and the village.

With that, Dream flashed them a smirk, and shot suddenly through the open space between George and Bad. He dove into the water, and swam for land.

He was headed for the taiga.

In fact, it looked like he was trying to get as far away from the village and the ocean as possible. Bad and Sapnap were screaming as they chased after him, but George only groaned, and lingered behind for a few short moments. This was what he _meant_. Dream always found a way to surprise them.

As soon as the speedrunner felt he’d made enough distance between him and the hunters, Dream began to climb one of the bulky blue spruce trees farther from the shore, pulling off thin branches and storing them in his inventory. Bad had reached the bottom of the tall tree just as he was starting to work on the bigger limbs. 

George lumbered out of the water and followed behind Sapnap as they headed for Dream’s tree. Bad started to climb after him, but was obviously struggling.

Desperate for help, he turned to the two of them and pointed up the tree. “He’s already getting wood! Go after him, quick!”

“I got it, I got it.” As Sapnap grabbed one of the lower branches and started to go after the speedrunner himself, all of their watches buzzed.

Sapnap kept going, but George stayed back and activated the device on his wrist. A little holographic screen popped up, displaying icons such as “Chat” and “Settings”. George opened the chat, and quickly read a single line at the very bottom.

_Dream has made the advancement **[Getting Wood]**._

George growled, aggravated at how swiftly Dream was already getting ahead of them. It was nothing new, of course, so he shut off his communicator and glanced back up the tree.

“Sapnap!” the Brit called, loudly, even though he could hear him clear as day through his headset. “Hurry up and _kill_ him already!”

As soon as Sapnap reached Dream’s level on the tree, he socked him hard enough for the speedrunner to fall. Dream landed on his back on the hard ground, causing him to cry out, but he was back on his feet in seconds.

It was astonishing, the little time it took him to get out of sight once again. The three hunters pushed through the thick and dark foliage, expecting to see a bright green hoodie appear at any moment.

Eventually, Bad did spot him again, furiously assembling something with his hands over a log. 

“Guys, he’s crafting!”

“What’s he got?”

“He has a _sword_!” 

Dream stood up, dauntingly tall compared to the rest of them, and seemingly satisfied with his newly-crafted sword. It was wooden, but sharp enough to be dangerous, especially against three men without armor, and even _more_ especially in Dream’s hands.

He turned to the closest of all of them, Sapnap, who was facing another direction, and quickly stabbed him through the chest, killing him instantly. Sapnap’s shout was cut off as his body vanished with a puff of smoke.

Their watches buzzed again. _Sapnap was slain by Dream._

Bad gasped and George groaned once more. Sap would be gone for a while, since respawning took even longer early in the game. 

Dream looked to BadBoyHalo next with a wide grin, which was the man’s first cue to run. Bad turned on his heel and sprinted in the other direction, leaving George alone with the speedrunner. 

“Bad, you’ve _left_ me!” George yelled.

“We can’t all die and let him get a head start! I’m getting some resources,” Bad replied through their comm. George winced, knowing full well that Dream could also hear him. “You can take him,” he encouraged, “just don’t let him kill you.” 

“Gee, thanks for the advice.”

Dream’s grin was scaring George a tiny bit. He backed up a few paces. 

The speedrunner sprinted towards him, and swiped at his midsection. He missed. George ducked under his arm at the next swing, and ran for cover in the forest. Maybe he could lose him there. 

“George!” Dream was calling. “Come here, George.”

But then again, he thought, maybe he could lower his health enough to get _Dream_ running, or even killed. An early win couldn’t be that hard.

So, George whirled around, a move that Dream didn’t seem to expect, and punched him as hard as he could in the stomach. It didn’t do much, all it did was make him gag, but he knew it had to hurt. He ducked away before Dream could attack again. 

He grinned, proud of the move. “Can’t touch me, Dream,” George laughed.

Dream growled, that eventually evolving into a chuckle. 

The hunter sped through the taiga, looking for something that could come to his aid against Dream and his wooden sword. He spotted a patch of thorny berry bushes and headed for those. George heard a grunt of frustration from behind him as he dipped through them, avoiding the sharp branches, but he didn’t look back— he just kept running. 

Finally, George broke through the trees into a clearing. A quick look around told him he had lost the speedrunner. The clearing was fairly large, and was empty of trees for one obvious reason, the huge crater in the middle of it. It was wide and very deep, leaving the dark caves below and a small pool of lava open to the fresh woodland air. 

He gulped, his stomach lurching a little at the sight, and stepped back. 

A distinct laugh rang over the comms. “You are _so_ annoying, George. Where’d you even go?”

George chuckled, daring himself to move a little closer to the edge of the hole. There could be needed resources in there, and it would be a good starting point for him and the other hunters. “I guess I’m just too quick for you. Good luck finding me now.”

“What’d you do?” Bad asked curiously. 

“I just outran a _speedrunner_ ,” George replied. “Isn’t that funny, Dream?”

There was a moment of silence, and the Brit faltered. “Hello? Dream?”

“Hilarious.”

That voice didn’t come from his headset. George spun around, just to come face-to-face with Dream, who was smiling, as always. He didn’t have time to react before the speedrunner pushed him over the edge of the crater.

He’d been tricked.

“ _No_!” George shrieked as he fell. He shut his eyes tightly closed, and braced for impact.

. . .

_BadBoyHalo has made the advancement **[Getting Wood]**._

_BadBoyHalo has made the advancement **[Stone Age]**._

_BadBoyHalo has made the advancement **[Getting an Upgrade]**._

Bad was minding his own business deep underground, miles away from George and Dream. From what he could hear over the call, George was surviving somehow, which was a bit surprising. 

Usually, Dream slaughtered them instantly at the beginning, causing them to lag behind while respawning and letting him get ahead. Some days, if they were lucky, they could get an upper hand on him, but rarely. Bad felt a little guilty for leaving George behind back there, but he was sure he’d made the right choice by backing down. They needed all the resources they could get.

The torch he held in his gloved left hand cast a warm, eerie glow on the stone cold walls of his cave, and as he rounded a corner, illuminated a rust-brown vein of iron ore. Bad grinned, and headed straight for it.

“You are _so_ annoying, George,” Dream’s voice sounded over their headsets, peaking Bad’s interest. “Where’d you even go?”

“I guess I’m just too quick for you. Good luck finding me now.”

Bad worked at the iron with his flimsy stone pick. George had escaped? Maybe he could meet back up with him somehow, and help him mine. “What’d you do?” he asked.

“I just outran a _speedrunner_ ,” George replied, chuckling. “Isn’t that funny, Dream?”

A quiet moment passed, and Dream didn’t answer. Bad was about to ask the other hunter to turn around and regroup with him to organize, when George continued.

“Hello? Dream?”

Bad swore his headphones nearly broke as they struggled to pipe in a high-pitched scream that undoubtedly belonged to George. He dropped his pickaxe in surprise, and adjusted his headset.

Then his stomach dropped when his watch vibrated against his wrist.

_GeorgeNotFound fell from a high place._


	2. Listen to my Jabbering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> George had known Dream for a long time, let’s put it that way. But, challenge after challenge, manhunt after manhunt, he’d never seen his best friend’s own face.

George shot into a sitting position. Sunlight was in his eyes, so he fumbled with the sunglasses that he always had and pressed them against the bridge of his nose, all while blinking away the heavy fatigue that one would have after waking up. 

The ocean roared in his ears, and his hand landed in a bunch of hot, dry sand. He grimaced when he remembered why he respawned on this beach. Looking up, George noticed the sun crawling west, and guessed it had to be around two or three in the evening.

It had been _five hours_.

Cursing his ignorance, he stood up and stretched, when a buzz from his watch interrupted him. He opened his chat, and wasn’t too surprised to see a long line of achievements from both Bad and Dream. 

_Dream has made the achievement **[Stone Age]**._

_Dream has made the achievement **[Getting an Upgrade]**._

_BadBoyHalo has made the achievement **[Acquire Hardware]**._

_Dream has made the achievement **[Monster Hunter]**._

George scrolled through many repeated achievements between the two of them, all mostly related to mining, and was envious of their progress. Dream got iron. Both of them had armor. Bad fought some mobs, and… 

_BadBoyHalo has made the achievement **[Diamonds!]**._

Diamonds already? In just an afternoon? He smiled, glad for once that they might have another chance at beating Dream. Sure, last game they had done pretty well early on, but the speedrunner had stomped their dreams into the dirt and proven them otherwise in the End.

The achievements trickled into actual messages, impatient ones from Bad. 

_[BadBoyHalo] Sapnap_

_[BadBoyHalo] Sapnap_

_[BadBoyHalo] George?_

_[BadBoyHalo] You guys are taking a while_

_[Sapnap] just respawned_

_[Sapnap] dont know where im going_

At the last message, George picked his head up and looked around. He spotted the Texan on the shore by the taiga, eyes on his activated communicator. George cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted his name, at which Sapnap jumped and turned to the spawn island.

He waved and beckoned for him to come over. George waded through the thin strip of water separating spawn island from the taiga, and took his time, instead of diving in after the speedrunner like that morning. Sapnap had typed Bad a response by that point.

_[BadBoyHalo] Gathering resources at the moment, I’ll send you coords but we need to get into a call_

_[Sapnap] got it_

_[Sapnap] george is back as well_

_[BadBoyHalo] Oh! Hey George! :)_

George dragged himself out of the sea, dripping wet, and trudged over to Sapnap. “Idiot,” he said by way of greeting, playfully slugging him on the shoulder.

“Hey!” Sapnap punched him back without any hesitation, and George stuck out his tongue, reaching up his hand to gently touch the shoulder that had taken damage. Sap returned to his watch, and messed around on a different setting. Both of their headsets then buzzed a little chime, indicating the start of a call between them and Bad.

Bad spoke first. “Hey guys.” He was talking quietly, but his voice echoed in an odd way that made it sound louder over comms. George knew what it meant. He was underground, most likely surrounded in thick walls of stone. 

“Hey,” George replied, already starting to strip down a nearby spruce. “What’d we miss?”

Bad hummed. “Not a lot. I haven’t run into Dream at all, if that’s what you’re asking. We’ve just been talking and collecting resources.”

“I guess that’s good, but we need to go after him soon.” Sapnap was working at the trees as well, though he was struggling, yelping at little slivers of damage as he was pricked by needles and surrounding sugar berries. “We can’t let him get ahead of us. Y’know what kind of stuff he has? Did he tell you?”

“Uh,” Bad went quiet for a moment. “Just iron tools and stuff, from what I know. He hasn’t gotten diamonds, at least.”

“What about you?”

“I’ve got us covered, mostly. And one of us gets a very special pair of boots.”

George had all the wood he needed, and began crafting it into planks, and eventually, a proper crafting table. “Ooh,” he responded dramatically, chuckling. “Those will be mine, Bad.”

“Oka—”

“Nuh uh, that’s not how this works.” Sapnap interjected. “ _I_ get the boots, ‘cause I’m the leader.”

“Shush, you two,” Bad chided, though he sounded like he was grinning. “ _Neither_ of you have helped today. I’m holding on to the boots for now.” 

The trip to BadBoyHalo’s coordinates was not a long one. He was deep underground, but close to spawn, and hadn’t moved much since the start of the game. He’d spent his spare time waiting for George and Sap mining, and had dug out the majority of the rock under the taiga through strip-mining. All of the narrow, two-by-one block tunnels led to the middle, where Bad had set up a little area for smelting, complete with a double chest full of resources, a wall of blast furnaces and smokers, and three beds placed next to each other on the opposite wall.

He’d uncovered a lot more diamond ore for just a pair of shiny boots, as well. He had been busy.

Bad pulled out the last remaining ingots of freshly-baked iron from the furnaces, which cast an orange light over the dark walls of their cave, as George and Sapnap equipped armor of the same material. Once George was fully clad in the silver armor, he sat down on a cold stone block and munched on the pile of cooked mutton Bad had given them.

Sapnap joined him, fiddling with his new cobalt-colored diamond sword. All three of them had one. If Dream ever decided to cross them, he’d meet a quick end. 

“We need to come up with a plan, and quickly,” he spoke up, summoning the weapon out of his hotbar. “We can’t let Dream get ahead of us. I’ll bet he’s already preparing for the Nether.”

George didn’t argue. Sapnap was right, in that they needed to hurry up and look for Dream, and the speedrunner was most likely ready to take on the underworld. Bad nodded and stepped over to the crafting table, his white eyes staring off into space as he searched through his inventory.

“Should we start enchanting? I should have enough to get us something.”

Sap shook his head. “No, that’ll just waste time. We need to attack soon, and catch him off guard.”

George nodded. “That’s how we won the last two games. He wasn’t expecting us in the end.”

“Okay,” Bad replied. “When should we leave? Tomorrow morning?”

Sapnap smirked, untying his headband, only for him to tie it again tightly around his forehead. “I’m thinking something else. Something we haven’t tried before, that Dream _isn’t_ expecting.”

George raised an eyebrow. “Yeah?”

“Let’s go after him tonight. Right now.”

Bad hummed thoughtfully. Sapnap was right, that was something they hadn’t tried before, let alone thought of. Normally, nighttime was peaceful for manhunts, especially first nights, because both speedrunner and hunters were focused on spending those precious hours on a good night’s sleep. Sleep quickly became less of a priority after the players had been through Nether, however, as Dream entered the home run to finishing the game. 

“I’m game,” George answered quickly. “As long as we set our spawn here in case anything goes wrong. This might end badly, and you know how messed up Dream’s sleep schedule is.”

Sapnap chuckled nervously, swiping hair out of his eyes. “Yeah, but I think we can do it.” His eyes lit up, and he turned to Bad. “Oh, another thing, what about that village by spawn? Did you raid it? Might’ve been some good stuff.”

BadBoyHalo blanched. “Um… well, I was underground most of the time… but, Dream did mention looting it over comms.”

George sighed. “Did he tell you what he found?”

“No, just teased me about it.”

Sapnap muttered a naughty word under his breath, prompting Bad to kick him in the leg and glare. Sap yelled and glared right back, clutching his violated and now-bruising shinbone. 

“So we’re leaving now. Like, right now,” George asked, to make sure. “You think we can get him?”

Sapnap turned to him. “Positive.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I uploaded this a lot sooner than I thought I would. A bit of a shorter chapter, but I’m excited for the next one. Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoyed.


	3. Maybe We Should’ve Come Another Time

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gkjsghg 99 kudos let’s gOOO
> 
> Honestly though, thank u all so much. I wanted to wait for 100 but I just couldn’t, this chapter was a lot of fun to write and I hope y’all enjoy it!

It had to be midnight. Minecraft’s blocky moon hung from the center of the sky, reflecting enough light to dimly illuminate the grassy landscape. The three hunters strolled silently through the different biomes in a line, with Sapnap defending the back, George in the middle, and Bad leading them at the front with the compass. All of them held a torch, which might have been a bad decision on their part, but the flickering yellow lights helped them massively.

The gloomy forest eventually blended into a plains biome, most likely an extended version of the one from earlier. Mobs groaned in the distance. Tensions were high as tall grass crunched under three pairs of feet, and George feared that Dream might pop out of the barley and slay all three of them, stripping the hunters of their progress and forcing them to start again from the beginning.

Until the louder, cleaner plains transitioned into a flower forest. Oak trees dotted the ground, bees buzzed inside their hives, and countless flower variants blessed the area with fragrance, color and beauty. George appreciated it all at that moment, even if he couldn’t see much in the dark past his torch’s five-block radius.

He opened his mouth to say something, but Sapnap grabbed his shoulder with a sharp “ _Shhh_!” and pointed ahead of them. 

Billowing into the sky, shining in the soft moonlight, was a pillar of smoke. 

Bad quickened his pace, and George and Sap followed suit. The smoke was coming from the top of a hill, covered with short oak and birch trees, but a bright, orange and white fire could be seen past the branches. 

That was it. But, the compass was pointed straight ahead, so it was safe to assume that Dream was somewhere nearby.

Hopefully not expecting an attack.

The hunters were decked out in full iron armor, brandished three diamond swords and three shields. In addition, George held a diamond axe, and Sapnap had a bow somewhere with a handful of arrows. There was no way this fight wouldn’t end in their favor. 

Bad, on high alert, crept up the hill and peeked through the brush. George couldn’t see from behind him, but the demon paused, before completely stepping out into the clearing.

“What are you...” he started to ask, but one gesture from Bad gave the Brit his answer.

The clearing wasn’t empty. The flames they’d seen came from a campfire, with a couple slabs of pork laid out on the logs to cook. The only other thing there was a single white bed a few feet away from the fire— the area was completely empty. 

All of Bad’s tension from earlier seemed to disappear, replaced with curiosity. He stood up straight and walked forward, looking around at the trees and the campfire, his glowing white eyes wide. His compass was still held out in front of him, the torch in his off-hand illuminating the clearing. 

“This is weird,” he mumbled.

“Yeah,” Sapnap replied, stepping up next to George.

But, George was looking at Bad’s hands. Something was off about the compass, it was behaving oddly, it had to be calculating incorrectly… until he figured out what was wrong. 

The needle was spinning wildly, pointing ahead of them, then behind, then at the trees surrounding them. Since it could only point in horizontal directions, that either meant that Dream was underground at the same X and Z coordinates as them, or he was really, _really_ close. 

And Bad wasn’t paying any attention.

He spun around and turned to George, his back facing the campfire setup. “Where could h—”

Bad didn’t get to finish. The snapping of branches sounded above them, and ended with a single _thud_ that came from behind BadBoyHalo. His eyes went wide, and he froze, not daring to look behind him.

From George and Sapnap’s perspectives, Dream’s blazing bonfire silhouetted a tall, hooded, armed figure, and their leader’s forgotten torch defined the smile on the speedrunner’s mask.

He found them.

In a flash, Dream had summoned an iron sword and swiped at Bad. Bad, caught unprepared and unable to fight back with just a compass and a torch, took the hit. His body flashed red, his armor had saved him, but he fumbled with his inventory, letting Dream steal a good amount of damage. 

He blocked next with his shield, which replaced his torch, and attempted a thrust at Dream’s midsection. Dream dodged, and hit him again. He never missed.

Bad had barely gotten a grip on his sword and shield, Sapnap and George barely had enough time to step forward before Dream landed the last hit and the demon disappeared in a puff of smoke, just like the other two hunters only hours earlier. 

His entire inventory dropped to the ground. A diamond sword. Diamond boots. All things that Dream didn’t already have, and sorely needed. The speedrunner was getting a free upgrade.

George froze, before instinctively taking several steps away from Dream. He wanted to run, but he couldn’t abandon his only other hunter.

Sapnap didn’t work like that. The hunter ran forward, sword in hand, and striked. Dream flashed red, but fought right back, his weapon landing square on the chest plate and knocking him back a good few feet. Sap slammed into a solid oak tree and fell face first onto the hard ground. When he lifted his head, George could only see the dark red that stained his Mediterranean complexion.

If he hadn’t moved so quickly at that moment, they probably wouldn’t have survived. He rushed over to Sapnap, practically picked him up off the ground, and they ran.

To George’s surprise, Dream never followed them.

. . .

It was a beautiful evening on the MunchyMC server. The sun was setting slowly, turning the sky gorgeous colors and dying the large, puffy clouds shades of orange and pink. The temperature wasn’t too bad, as well, and for once George couldn’t complain about the weather. 

He could’ve left by now, gone home and enjoyed his break, only to wake up the next morning and return to work. But dusk was _so_ pretty on this server, and Bad never worked his staff too hard, anyway. 

GeorgeeeHD wandered about the MunchyMC lobby, grateful that he could see the sky everywhere he turned. The lobby was just a ship— an impressive wooden structure crafted by talented hands— that floated on a vast glass ocean. Massive spruce and dark oak masts towered over the deck, hosting stiff sails made of end stone and white wool. People were everywhere he looked, dressed in brightly-colored skins with different names hovering over their heads in white letters. The numbers were thinning, however George knew that the server never went completely quiet.

Outside of the ship, the atmosphere seemed to go on forever. To the right of him lay a landscape built purely for looks, and to the left a school of purple-concrete fish hopping out of the “water”. After that, infinite cosmos.

No, it didn’t go on forever. A barrier ended the void at some point, though George couldn’t tell you where, it was hidden so cleverly. 

A laugh from behind him brought him back to the world. It wasn’t familiar, he didn’t know why it caught his attention. He turned to the left side of the ship, where a pair of players were mingling apart from the other crowds. 

One was a normal player, just like any of the hundreds that joined every day, while the other was an admin. Now that George thought about it, he felt like he’d seen him before. 

The first player was standing on the railing on the outside of the ship, his arms spread out to keep his balance, and started some idle parkour as his friend talked. He had a brown flannel jacket on over a black shirt with a Supreme logo, fading blue ripped jeans and a black headband to keep dark hair away from his face. His skin had a vague olive tone to it and he looked young. 

The other only seemed about a year older than his buddy, but if George was being completely honest, he couldn’t really tell. The man was tall and sported a puffy lime green jacket that fell to his knees. The hood was up, but under the hood he still wore an odd white mask with a smile that hid his entire face. The only hints to his true appearance were his tanned hands and bits of dirty-blond hair that stuck out under his hood. His gamertag read “DreamTraps” with the word _Admin_ placed in front of it in bold, red lettering.

George watched them interact for longer than he cared to admit. He didn’t have much else to do, and he could’ve left by now— but he quite enjoyed people watching, and these two laughing and cracking jokes so casually was the most interesting thing he’d seen all day. Especially with the admin’s odd appearance.

But, it wasn’t long before the one in green noticed his staring, so George quickly looked away. 

“Hey! Uh… GeorgeeeHD.”

George flinched. He turned to them, unsure on which one had spoken, and prepared for reprehension. 

He gulped. “Did… did one of you speak?”

To his surprise, “DreamTraps” chuckled, and not in a sinister way. The man grabbed his mask and lifted it gingerly, but not above his nose, and rested it there, revealing his smile and a bit of his sun-kissed cheeks. How his skin got so tan with that thing on all the time, he didn’t know. He had to take it off sometimes.

“I did,” he replied, now that George could see his mouth moving to prove it. “I’m DreamTraps, but just Dream is fine. I’m a developer.” He gestured to the player next to him, who had hopped off the side of the ship by now. “This is Pand— uh, Sapnap, he’s a friend of mine.”

Sapnap waved.

George nodded, shifting uncomfortably. Why were they talking to him? He’d done nothing but look at them! “I’m George.”

Sapnap stayed quiet, but Dream smiled. “I hear you’re a coder. I need your kind of help with something.”

George didn’t have time to hear what he was talking about, but he already didn’t have a good feeling about it. He’d just met this guy, and he didn’t really _want_ to code... whatever it was Dream wanted him to code... either.

“Sorry, I’m about to leave,” he quickly responded, waving a hand in front of him to cut the admin off. “And I’m pretty busy after this. Maybe you could ask somebody else.” At Dream’s concerned expression, he added, “Or you could try doing it yourself?”

DreamTraps bit his lip, his head turning to look away. “Uh, maybe,” was all he said. 

That was when his dark-haired friend tugged on Dream’s swollen green sleeves and muttered something along the lines of having to go soon. Dream nodded, and turned back to George with a grin that suggested it had never disappeared in the first place.

“We’ve gotta go, but thanks anyway. By the way, I like your sunglasses, but why are you wearing them now?”

GeorgeeeHD reached up to finger the frosty white glasses with multicolored, tinted frames that he’d honestly forgotten were there. Dream was right, stars were starting to appear in the darkening sky and he could’ve taken them off a while ago, but what the admin called them made him frown a bit.

“These… aren’t sunglasses,” he replied, chuckling. “They help me see certain colors.”

Dream raised his eyebrows. “You’re colorblind?”

“Yup.”

“Oh.” Dream paused, before shooting him one last smirk and slipping his mask back down over his chin. “Well, it was nice to meet you.”

George made a face. “Nice meeting you too, I guess.”

Dream snorted, and threw his head back laughing. His laugh was clear and unique, contagious like his smile. 

George had to remind himself to be cautious around him, he’d barely even met this man that refused to show his face around others. He was a nice guy, don’t get him wrong, but he was still mysterious.

He shook his head, chalking it up to just being… interesting, before he disconnected.


	4. Unplanned Reveal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gosh I meant to post this sooner. Most of this was written late at night as well, so I apologize if the writing’s a bit more disheveled than usual. Anyway, I think I really like this chapter, so I hope you do as well! I might start another MCYT fic sometime soon to keep me going... not sure yet tho

“Why is he bleeding?”

“Because he’s an idiot.”

“...I didn’t know idiocy caused people to start bleeding from the nose.”

“I think it’s a new phenomenon.”

Sapnap huffed without joining their conversation, though he could clearly hear George and Bad talking, since they were doing it _right_ in front of him. He was leaning forward in his seat, as Bad had instructed him to, while pinching the soft part of his sniffer in order to stop the incessant nosebleed he’d had to deal with since they’d last seen Dream.

Speaking of the speedrunner, they hadn’t heard anything from him since last night. No calls, no nothing. He’d backed away after slaying Bad— who had by now crafted and equipped a new set of armor— and Sap could only guess that he’d left them alone for now. Dream wasn’t stupid, he had to’ve known he couldn’t take on both George and ’im with all that they had, even if one was injured. He at least hoped Dream was enjoying Bad’s coveted pair of diamond boots.

“Well, what now?” George asked, shoving a fresh handful of coarse sugarcane paper into Sapnap’s face, which was still spitting red.

Sapnap glared and snagged them, before pressing them to his nose with the hand that wasn’t already pinching it. The three of them had regrouped back at their tiny cave base, since Bad had retreated there first after respawning. It was now morning at the surface, maybe ten, and they knew Dream was spending his precious time without them on his tail wisely.

“Prepare, of course,” Bad stated, as if it was obvious. “Sapnap, your plan had its time, but Dream was just too far ahead of us. Let’s grind, enchant, explore, and plan, so we can be way ahead of him.” He clapped his hands together and grinned, his eyes brighter than usual.

Sapnap scoffed, but quickly winced when it brought a new rush of blood. 

“That’ll take way too long. Dream’s a _speedrunner_ , he’s gonna be in the Nether any minute now,” he finally replied. “We can’t get our eyes off him.”

Bad hummed thoughtfully. “Then… if we need better stuff to fight him, and we can’t let him out of our sight or we’ll lose him, let’s just split up.”

“That’s a _terrible_ idea!”

“Yeah, it’s just what Dream wants!”

BadBoyHalo quickly raised up his hands to get them to stop, and Sap and George went quiet. “No, I don’t mean we should _fight_ him. One of us should follow the compass while the rest get some better gear, and just… stalk him for a while. See what he’s up to. If he sees you or starts building a portal, we could…” He gasped, his eyes growing wide. “We could use code words!”

Sapnap shifted in his seat. “I have a better idea,” he replied, before pointing at George. “He can go. If Dream finds him, he can just scream.”

“How will we know whether Dream’s entering the Nether, or hunting George?” Bad asked, raising an eyebrow.

Sap chuckled. “We’ll know.”

“ _Stop it_ ,” George snapped, exasperated. “I am _not_ going!”

Sapnap looked to Bad, who shrugged, and turned to George, a pleading look on his face. 

“C’mon, George, you’ve gotta go! Sapnap obviously can’t do it.” He gestured to his buddy, who was, remarkably, still bleeding profusely. Sapnap smirked. 

“What about you?”

Bad faltered, but recovered quickly. “I’m too loud. He’d catch me immediately. But you’re the sneakiest of all of us… and the smallest.”

George sighed, choosing to ignore the straight insult to his height, and shot Sapnap a glare. “ _Fine_ ,” he hissed.

Sap beamed, and sifted through his inventory before he had a solid grip on his pickaxe.

. . .

George realized quickly that their randomly-generated world yielded much more than temperate oceans, taigas and flower forests as he hiked across the biomes, scanning the horizon for Dream, desperate to spot him before the speedrunner saw him first. As he followed his compass, the air slowly began to feel more heated, the wind hot and dry. The grass grew taller and thicker, and trees were more sparse, introducing George to the world’s first savanna. 

He shuffled past a small herd of brown and white llamas, who brayed grouchily in response. He did his best to keep his footsteps quiet— he’d learned his lesson with the other hunters last night— and checked twice, three times that he was wearing his colorblind glasses, so he could distinguish Dream’s bright green hoodie from the yellower savanna grass. 

George could’ve probably seen the speedrunner fine without them, but he wanted to be extra cautious. He _needed_ to see Dream first.

Lucky for George, the savanna plains and plateaus soon blended into a desert. He could feel the burning sand through his thin sneakers. His mouth was drier than the ground, George _swore_ he was baking in the heat, and the new biome seemed to extend infinitely— his vision started to swim if he stared at the horizon for too long. 

Forget about that. The lucky part was his compass was beginning to spin, until it pointed to one clear landmark, a desert temple. Right in front of him.

His headphones crackled as Bad and Sapnap burst into song from their mines, voices following an off, but joyous tune. There was also an audible echo that was supposed to confuse Dream into thinking they were underground, far from him and definitely _not_ mere chunks away, scheming on how to kill him like George was. 

He chuckled when Sap’s voice cracked horribly, and Dream erupted into a fit of laughter. Both of the mining hunters quieted down after that.

“So… Dream,” George uttered when he had the chance to speak. “You’re taking your time. Why aren’t you in the Nether already?”

There was a pause. “Just looking for a good spot. Don’t worry about it,” he replied evenly.

Oh, he was _definitely_ in that temple.

George hid behind the rise of a sand dune, and waited for Dream to exit the temple and head somewhere else so the hunter could follow him. It took a couple minutes— filled with banter and other small talk from Sapnap and Bad— before he finally did.

Dream’s mask was on, as always, but not his hood. His hair looked blonder than ever under the desert’s blocky sun, tousled slightly from a slow, dry breeze. His body language was easy, his steps were moderate and he didn’t seem tense. He wasn’t dragging at all, not during a manhunt… but he wasn’t as alert as he would be if he knew the hunters were on his tail.

It was exactly what George was hoping for.

But, he leaned a little closer and squinted at the speedrunner, whose head was about the size of George’s thumbnail from where he was tucked away. Dream was holding something, something small, that reflected off the sunlight and glimmered almost unnaturally. 

George couldn’t make out what it was, but he knew it had to be something valuable, from the way Dream was grinning. It could’ve been anything, especially if it came from the temple— iron, diamond, some form of enchantment… the list goes on. 

Eventually, George spoke up. “So where’s that lava pool, Dream?”

“Still looking,” Dream replied quickly. “I just got distracted.”

The speedrunner stuffed the mysterious object somewhere deep in his inventory, before he looked up and moved on.

. . .

It was sundown when Dream finally called it a night.

He’d walked all day, for _hours_ , and he was clearly built to be a speedrunner because George was _exhausted_. His meager food supply had nearly been purged, and the hunter found himself in the low branches of an acacia tree, on the edge of what looked to be a huge shattered savanna, munching on the last of his chicken, with his back to Dream’s setup.

George decided he’d hunt for more the next morning, because he certainly wasn’t doing it now.

Dream apparently had settled for the same setup he had the last night: a bed, maybe a couple of workbenches, and a campfire— which George could smell from his tree. He’d camped fairly close to Dream, maybe a little bit too close for comfort, but as far as he could tell, he hadn’t been spotted yet.

He shivered, not wanting to think about getting caught. Dream was _scary_ when he was mad, or even when he just wished to mess with his buddies. 

Though George hadn’t been seen, that didn’t change the fact that Dream was oh, so obviously paranoid. Even if Sapnap and Bad had already left call and gone to bed, Dream was wide awake, turning his head from side to side and looking in all directions. The only things he saw, of course, were mindless, growling mobs stumbling in the dark. 

George stifled a yawn. It looked like Sap and Bad were the only ones getting sleep tonight.

He turned away from Dream for the time being and his eyes settled on the stars— tiny, cubic, twinkling things. There were thousands of them, disturbed only by the leafy acacia branches above him. Finding that this only made him more tired, and knowing he’d most likely fall off his branch and get murdered if he drifted off too long, George looked back to the hunted. 

Dream was working. Of course, the only thing that might keep him awake. It looked like he was trying to repair his diamond axe with another— however one did so on a crafting bench— but he was obviously struggling. With no sleep, the dimmed light and that dumb mask of his, his eyesight wasn’t too fantastic, and his hands were shaking and slipped easily.

George wondered shortly, as he watched Dream struggle, how he saw anything through the thing. It looked like a solid material, plastic or porcelain or something of the sort— but it was clearly translucent. A one-way window, like tinted glass. Surely it wasn’t easy to see through, but still. 

Dream growled. His hands were still fumbling, and he was clearly irritated. Both of the tools, for whatever reason, were scratched and chipped to bits. It was a fussy task, certainly not one to do at o’dark thirty, and he looked about ready to give up the idea of it.

But, Dream was a stubborn man. George could tell that he was hesitant to take any time to rest— a wise choice, at the moment— so he remained determined. 

He set a torch on top of the crafting bench. It didn’t help, of course. George expected him to give it a rest at some point, from all the grunting, and it would’ve been a great sight to see if he ended up throwing the axes away in frustration. 

What he didn’t expect was for Dream to bend his head down and rip off the mask.

George almost blew his cover by making the noise that he did. Evidently, it was _way_ too dark for him to see much, but even the new, muted shape of Dream’s nose and eyes was enough to make George wonder if he was seeing things. 

Dream blinked slowly, twice, before his eyes flicked back to his workbench with a satisfied expression. George found his jaw slacking when he saw all the _emotion_ he’d never seen the speedrunner convey before. And sure, he couldn’t recognize the exact shape or color of Dream’s eyes from where he was, twenty-some blocks away— but George quickly discovered that they moved a _lot_ , flitted around faster than a hummingbird’s wings and analyzed his entire surroundings in seconds.

It was fascinating, breathtaking to watch. Too bad George was too busy examining his friend from a distance to notice the skeleton creeping up behind him. The bony creature sent an arrow whizzing past the hunter’s ear, before it slammed into the wood and shocked George badly enough for him to topple straight off his branch in a flurry. 

He fell onto hard, dry ground and landed on his back, long grass crunching underneath him. Dream’s attention snapped George’s direction at his cry, and the hunter froze when he sat up and caught his gaze.

At first Dream looked surprised, almost panicked, his eyes scanning the field for the source of the cry. His hand had unconsciously reached for his cheek, aware that he was maskless and exposed to any hunters after him. 

But then he spotted George. Their eyes met, and George was suddenly petrified.

Dream looked furious. Times before when he was mad, people could only tell by the tone of his voice, his actions, or that slight curl of his lip that came whenever something upset him. Now, however, so many fuming emotions came from the speedrunner’s eyes alone and were locked on George. 

An arrow lodged itself in George’s back and knocked the air out of him, drawing all his attention away from Dream and to the monster behind him. It took less than three hits from his axe to get rid of the skeleton, but it was just enough for Dream to don his mask again and pull out a weapon.

George whirled around, only to get hit _hard_ on the side of the head with Dream’s own axe. Even disoriented, he managed to block the next crit, and they traded hits for a while. 

Most of their battles tended to fall into a rhythm like this. Never this silent, though. Here, George took it. There was nothing he could possibly do, so he let Dream grit his teeth and land that last critical blow, sending him back to spawn.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading! 
> 
> Also, this is almost to 130 kudos! That’s nuts.


	5. We Need to Go Deeper

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter, Dream enters the Nether while the hunters are far behind, and Sapnap and George have a chat. Will I apologize for taking a month to write this? Maybe. Also, only 9% of people reading have actually given kudos, that or several guests have opened and closed the page, I’m also really bad at math, so if you end up liking what you see, please drop a kudos. It’s free, and you can always change your mind if you want.
> 
> ...can you? Wait.

George woke up to a gloved hand gently tugging his shoulder. 

He turned over in his woolen sheets, and looked up to see Bad’s soft smile. He groaned despondently, but he supposed he should be grateful that Bad was the one to wake him— Sapnap wouldn’t have done it so nicely.

BadBoyHalo turned away from him and shifted over to their wall of furnaces, which were all ablaze with different materials smelting in their hearths. The fire illuminated the entire cave, including Sap sharpening his weapon on the opposite wall, making it obvious they were planning on a fight today.

It must’ve been the next day, George thought, as he swung his legs over the edge of his bed. He brushed a hand through his tousled hair and reached for the set of diamond armor on the floor he assumed was his.

“Ah— no,” Bad intervened, materializing next to him before slapping his hand away. “That set isn’t done yet. _These_ are yours.”

Bad held out a fresh-looking diamond chestplate in front of George. The edges shimmered an unnatural blue color— or maybe it was purple, he didn’t have his glasses on— but nonetheless, it was enchanted, and it looked _strong_ , too.

“Is that…”

Bad nodded excitedly. “ _Prot III_! Well, not entirely. But a lot of it! Dream spared the librarians in that old village. Our axes also have _Sharpness_ , Sapnap has _Thorns_ on his leggings, and I got you _Feather Falling II_ ,” he explained, pointing to the boots last.

George grinned. He didn’t say it, but he knew that they had done a good job. 

As he slipped the armor on— which was practically _humming_ with the charms— he noticed that his helmet was made of iron and his leggings weren’t enchanted, but really, that didn’t matter. Collectively, they were already ahead of Dream.

_They did better than I did_ , he thought bitterly.

“You said he’s pretty far?” Bad spoke up again, referring to George’s report from last night. He already had his compass out.

George paused. _Oh, right_. He’d nearly forgotten.

“Yeah,” he replied. “But, um… we could probably reach him before he starts the portal.”

Sapnap was standing. Bad nodded. “Hm, alright. Then we better leave now.”

George hung on his next words, recalling the events of last night. Should he tell them what he saw? Or keep his mouth shut? Had he even _seen_ anything, really?

He shook his head, and kept quiet. Not now.

. . .

It was one of those days. That was the first thing that came to George’s mind when he reached the surface after Sapnap.

Sap and Bad didn’t seem to mind, but then again, they probably didn’t have as much of a sense for it like George did. He didn’t think much of it at first, but the little things like curled leaves, closed up pinecones and that ever-present, suffocating _silence_ quickly caught his attention.

It was going to storm. Most likely not very soon, maybe while they were in the Nether, but it was definitely going to. He knew it, and the foxes knew it, from the way the little creatures seemed that much more on edge today. Nothing smelled yet, however, and the only signs in the sky were a bunch of stumpy little cumulus clouds that were hovered over the ocean.

Maybe he was just imagining it.

His group walked with a moderate pace through the biomes— not too fast, but obviously not slow— eyes either trained on the ground or on the compass, when all of their communicators buzzed.

_Dream has made the advancement **[Hot Stuff]**_.

A low chuckle rang through their headphones. George ran a hand over his face, and Bad simply stared at the achievement in disbelief, stopped in his tracks. “Oh my gosh…”

Sapnap turned to them. “We’re not even halfway to where you last saw him, George,” he said in a hushed voice, as if he was attempting to hide that fact, but Dream only laughed louder.

Of course, after that, they walked a little quicker.

It wasn’t long before they broke into a sprint. Building a proper Nether portal with just water and magma was a difficult job, and could easily be messed up if it was rushed. It was also a dangerous job, so George prayed that they could catch up to Dream before the speedrunner got too far ahead of them.

Forest, then savanna, then desert, then more savanna. George’s eyes caught the little area Dream had settled in the night before as the hunters ran past it, the charcoal-black firepit still smoldering. He looked back ahead with the faintest of smiles. That meant Dream had left recently.

That meant Dream was close.

His watch vibrated against his wrist, but he didn’t bother to look at it, he already knew the advancement. _**We Need to Go Deeper**_. Dream had entered the Nether.

Bad halted suddenly, with an arm extended to stop them, and George screeched to a stop. His compass was spinning wildly, pointing right when Bad moved left, backwards when he moved forwards, and vice versa. 

The portal was below them.

Sapnap already had his pick out, and started mining out a tunnel below his checkered Jordan’s that led straight down. Bad and George followed suit. Each swing was hesitant, as if any moment the stone would crumble beneath them and send them plummeting into a lake of molten lava. 

George grimaced when he realized they’d spawn back in the caves.

That was _almost_ what happened, but luckily he landed on his feet on a slab of rock next to the bubbling lava pool, and warned the other hunters before they could get any closer to it. The cavern was tight, and deep, deep underground— nearly at diamond level. He turned his head to the other side of the cave, where an expertly-crafted ring of obsidian surrounded an eerie, swirling Nether portal.

Dream was already a couple minutes ahead of them. George whipped out a stack of cobblestone and bridged across the magma, his feet only a couple inches above the searing liquid, making him sweat from more than just the heat. Bad was coming from another, farther direction, and Sapnap was just behind George.

He knew instantly when he’d reached the portal, even with his back to it. A wave of cold air radiated off of the obsidian, sending shivers up and down his spine. A deceiving welcome to the entrance of the underworld.

Sapnap pushed past George with a smirk, and went through first. His fingers vanished once they touched the churning blue— no, purple— surface, and the rest of himself with it. George entered next, his vision swimming from the trip as he fought back a wave of nausea.

He was met with a face full of netherack.

“What…?” George murmured, fingering the wall he’d just run into. It was dark, very dark, and he was forced to adjust to the portal’s soft violet glow. Sapnap bumped into him from beside, sounding equally confused.

Dream laughed yet again, softer this time. “Took you guys long enough. Honestly, none of you are going to catch up to me by now.”

The portal was holed up underground, with a netherack ceiling and floor the exact height of the portal (which was _not_ very tall, Bad already seemed uncomfortable), and the walls leaving them with only about a foot of space. The air was thick and heavy, contributing to the hunters’ growing claustrophobia.

Dream’s way of exit was spotted immediately— a man-made cobblestone pillar that clashed horribly with the blood red material packed together from the pressure and heat. Sapnap started picking out a tunnel beside the cobblestone, and they went the only obvious direction. Up.

The air didn’t get any clearer as they ascended, but there was an obvious transition from the hard, solid netherack to the usual dry, crumbly texture. It took a few close encounters with hidden lava pockets, but eventually, the red stone fell away and they hit the surface.

Well, surface wasn’t _quite_ the right word.

George inwardly groaned once he recognized the biome they were in. A soulsand valley. The awful stuff stretched on for miles, eldritch bones and massive rib cages sticking out of the Nether’s brown quicksand, fire the color of the Overworld’s sky lapping at their edges. Skeletons stalked the area with bows at their sides, with ghasts patrolling above them, their skulls barely scraping the roof of the underworld. The only break in the valley was a speck of red far to Bad’s left, where he hoped lay the Nether wastes.

That was where the fortresses were, right? Surely Dream would have gone that way.

Sure enough, that was where the compass needle was pointing. BadBoyHalo crawled out of their tunnel, George and Sap just behind him, and his boots instantly sank into the soulsand.

Sapnap sighed. “This… will be a long walk.”

And gosh, George wished he was wrong. The trek was slow— an understatement— and _painful_. George found himself glancing up at the Nether wastes ahead of them every few seconds, hoping that it would get closer. They were already behind.

Finally, the netherack was within reach. George could walk normally again, but not for very long, since Bad had stopped short in front of them.

The floor dropped into a sharp cliff, the bottom layered with lava that flowed into a large lake to their right. Bad’s head turned that direction to a bridge, of sorts, a thin one that must have been made by Dream.

He spun around. “Okay, here’s the plan,” he started, before muting his mic. Sapnap and George did the same.

“We know how far ahead of us Dream is. There’s _no_ way we’ll catch up to him before he’s done with the fortress, and loses us on his way back to the portal.” Bad pointed to the bridge. “I’ll keep going, so he doesn’t suspect anything. You guys wait here for him to come back, and ambush him— maybe you can use the lava too or something. I’ll be right behind.”

There was a moment of silence, only broken by lava popping and distant pig grunts. Then, Sapnap nodded.

“Okay, okay. That’s actually a decent idea,” he replied. Bad’s expression was a mix of joy at the praise and offense at Sap’s tone. “Let’s do it.”

George hummed in response. This could work, if they successfully took the speedrunner by surprise. Bad grinned, unmuted his microphone, and turned to walk in the supposed fortress’s direction.

“Oh, _Dream_ …” he sang jovially. “Boy, have we got a treat for you!”

. . .

In the heat of battle or during the intensity of speedrunning, it was easy to forget how long these challenges actually take. Here, alone by the lava lake as they waited long hours for Dream to return, to George and Sapnap it was painfully obvious.

Sapnap didn’t look at all alert— he was sitting down with his back against the Nether wall, his headband over his eyes. He’d probably be sleeping if George let him. George had run out of things to look at, as well, things to fidget with. Even if it was still _dangerous_ , everything looked and was the same in the Nether, _predictable_. 

It was awful.

“You’d think he’d be done by now,” Sapnap spoke suddenly. “Considering how much of a lead he has. Feel like he’s wasting it.”

Dream found the fortress about fifteen minutes ago— Bad had told them before their communicators buzzed from the advancement, though he himself hadn’t stepped foot in the structure once. If Dream had seen a blaze spawner, he hadn’t killed any of the mobs just yet, and those were what he needed. Maybe he was lost, maybe the speedrunner was bamboozling them somehow— that was always a possibility— but yeah, he was wasting precious time.

George hummed. “You think he’s messing with us?”

Sap hesitated, then shook his head. “No. Don’t think so.”

Their little quarry fell silent again, and George’s eyes shifted to the stones next to his feet and started counting. He quickly lost interest.

One memory pricked his mind constantly, the one of the night before. He’d seen with his own eyes, even if from quite a distance away, what Dream had kept hidden from him since the day they met. Sapnap was the only one, he was fairly certain, who had ever seen Dream mask-less otherwise.

This brought up another question, one that might have an answer for the other twenty-six: did Sapnap know why Dream wore a mask?

George definitely didn’t. From up in his tree last night, he hadn’t noticed _anything_ abnormal that Dream might have wanted to hide. No scars, no deformities, he seemed completely normal. So, what was up?

“Sapnap,” he started, and the man in question turned his head to him and lifted the headband. The amber-brown color in his curious eyes glowed more noticeably in the Nether’s eerie lighting, like two little tongues of fire.

George’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times, before he finally decided to speak. “I… I saw something— last night— when I was hunting Dream. While his guard was down.”

Sapnap’s face did something funny, and George hurriedly continued.

“His face! I saw his face.” Sap’s eyes widened, his interest peaked. “Not very closely though, and not for very long, because I gave myself away after that. I think he got mad.”

His buddy was quiet for a minute, before he smiled. “Wait, really? Yeah, I _bet_ he wasn’t happy. But that’s awesome.” Sapnap chuckled.

George frowned, doubtful. “I’m not so sure about that. Do you… know why he hides his face anyway? Surely he hasn’t worn a mask around you the entire time you’ve been friends.”

He shook his head furiously. “ _No_ , ‘course not, we were in, like, middle school.”

“But why did he start doing it in the first place?”

Sapnap didn’t answer, or maybe he was thinking— he began poking the ground in front of him with his axe. A distant ghast cry filled the silence.

“I dunno,” he finally said, shrugging. “I just supposed he was a private person. As we got older, we were out more, around thousands, sometimes more, people. I thought he was just uncomfortable.” George nodded. “Dream’s not _always_ like he is around you guys. It’s not like there’s something big he’s hiding. Since we know each other, if it’s just us, he’ll leave it be.”

Another beat of silence. George’s gaze shifted up to the Nether ceiling, thinking that the conversation was finished. He wasn’t satisfied with the answer, not at all, but it would have to do.

“But, he has been a little more careful about hiding his face recently.”

George’s attention snapped back to the hunter. Sapnap’s eyebrows were drawn, his eyes glassy.

“Think it’s gotten to his head, a little bit.”

“...yeah?”

“Yeah.”

They both jumped when their watches vibrated, and George quickly opened chat to the message, _Dream has made the advancement **[Into Fire]**_.

So, he _was_ alive. George gnarred nonetheless, seriously considering throwing his communicator in that lava to his right.

But after that, _Bad has made the advancement **[A Terrible Fortress]**_.

It’s as if Bad was waiting for that very moment to set Dream on edge. Heck, that was probably what he wanted, as well as what they _needed_ to let the speedrunner know they weren’t that far behind. Dream made a little “what?” noise, and George and Sap unmuted their mics, now much more alert. 

Soon Dream would be at the bridge, and the next half of the game would begin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was joking in the beginning btw
> 
> Thank you so much for reading :)
> 
> Also, I’m hoping anyone reading can pick up the little— sometimes obvious— details that I often fail to put into words (i.e. dialogue references, what Dream’s doing in the background). I’m still working on including those little things and making my writing longer, for one, my subconscious keeps me from writing anything longer than 2,500 words, so I’ve settled on a more subtle approach. I’ve also written a lot less dialogue than I wanted to...
> 
> Anyway, if anyone is having trouble understanding, let me know so I can work harder to make it better!


	6. “Dominating”: Ray Aley

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof another late chapter  
> This was originally supposed to be two chapters, so I combined them. Guess what? Still under 2,500 words.   
> Anyway, hope u enjoy! Also have a good thanksgiving :)

All he could register as he sprinted through the underworld wastelands was the suffocating heat, the steady crunch of netherack beneath his feet, jutted-out rock formations and bright orange, pillars of lava rushing past his vision, telling him to _stay away, or you might lose this round_ — and the sound of quickening footsteps behind him.

The entire time, Dream’s mind was screaming _run, run, run_.

But even as the urge to sprint faster got louder at every beat, the speedrunner had to force himself to slow down and keep his steps steady, so he didn’t trip on a loose rock or fall into magma from a loss of balance.

Because, that would give one of the hunters— probably Sapnap— a large enough opening for the game to end by a single swing of his axe.

He had the blaze rods, Dream remembered with a brief sense of relief, he just had to reach the portal. Everyone was behind him, right? Had he even seen all of them together?

He’d seen Bad. A little too late and a little too close for comfort, but he had managed to leave the fortress without any significant damage taken. Then George and Sap were screaming through his headset for him to run, so _naturally_ , he did.

Gritting his teeth, Dream spared a quick glance behind him. His stomach dropped to his toes, however, when he could only see Bad on his tail, a few yards back. Where the _heck_ were the other two?

_In the walls, in the skies, they could be anywhere_ , he mused. 

He tried to think fast as a familiar lava lake popped into view ahead of him. When had he last seen George? 

_Not since last night_.

Where could they be? If they weren’t behind him, and he hadn’t seen anyone other than BadBoyHalo today? 

It wasn’t until he stepped foot on his little makeshift bridge over the lake, when Bad blocked any hope of exit behind him, and when Sapnap and George appeared at the other end with weapons drawn, had he realized the situation.

_Crap_.

George giggled, because _boy_ was Dream in trouble now. Dream took two shaky steps backward, only to run right into the sharp end of Bad’s diamond blade. He was cornered into the middle of the bridge, the lava that bubbled below him probably the best possible option for escape at all.

The speedrunner definitely seemed nervous, at the very least (emphasis on the _seemed_ — Dream’s mask was covering his entire face today, his lime hoodie hiding any otherwise exposed skin).

Now forced to fight, Dream shifted into a more obvious fighting stance.

George tried his best to predict the speedrunner’s actions. Dream spun around to the weakest link— Bad, he was alone— and swung his axe straight for the heart. Bad threw up his shield in time to block, the weapon bouncing right off. The next few tries were in vain, but Bad didn’t land any hits either. He stood his ground.

Dream turned back around at the failed attempt and spotted Sap first— the hunter’s grip on his shield and weapon were loose. Sapnap didn’t get to react in time before he took a full axe crit to the face.

His first mistake.

George couldn’t help but wince.

Sapnap got up from the blow quite quickly, as if it hadn’t happened, and raised his own weapon to retaliate. Dream picked up his shield and blocked. Bad landed a hit from behind, making the speedrunner shout. 

Instead of fighting back, Dream paused to reach a hand into his inventory, and pulled out a glimmering Notch apple. 

George’s expression shifted from confusion to one of shock. _That_ was what he found in the sand temple. Dream lifted his mask a little, bit into the golden fruit and made sure to swallow before a hunter got any closer.

Dream stood straighter, taller, and quite _obviously_ stronger. Pink particles emanated from open skin and his panting breath. Sapnap faltered, but didn’t stop, picking his axe up again. The speedrunner’s gaze locked on the hunter, who had removed himself from George’s side on the bridge in order to hit Dream.

Dream swung his axe with a force strong enough to break Sapnap’s balance and send him over the side. 

His scream ended abruptly. George’s eyes widened and he stifled a gasp of horror. _Sapnap tried to swim in lava to escape Dream_ , their communicators buzzed.

A Notch apple made the user more of a tank than a fighter. It gave resistance and regeneration, not strength, but it allowed Dream to take a _lot_ of hits before he even began to look tired. George was aware of this, but his limbs moved without his permission, and he socked the speedrunner across the face with his weapon, square on the mask.

Dream barely flinched. George did it again, and Bad landed another hit at the back of his skull. Dream swung and missed a crit on George, but managed to hit Bad on the next try. 

Every time it seemed as if Dream was attempting to send them into the lava, the two hunters made sure to back away, but they barely budged from their positions on both of the netherack bridge’s ends. 

The speedrunner realized this quickly.

George gripped his axe tighter, and watched as Dream’s gaze shifted— almost desperately— to the land in front of him, behind George, then at a little ledge a few yards away from BadBoyHalo that he _definitely_ couldn’t reach, to the ceiling, and lastly… the lava below them.

George found himself reaching out when Dream jumped for it. His eyes zipped to the lava, and he thought about every time Dream had done this before. (Was there a strider waiting for him? Was he going to try that stupid boat trick again?)

But no, the hunters watched as he plunged _right_ into the stuff, and bobbed back to the surface, unharmed.

Bad screamed. George bit back a curse, remembering that _of course, god apples give fire resistance_. Dream swam through the thick, molten substance with a grin that reached his ears. His laugh ( _wheeze_ was more accurate) sounded like a kettle that reached its boiling point.

“How… what…?” Bad was beyond confused.

George growled, but it ended with a whine. “We should’ve killed him when we had the chance! We’re so _dumb_.”

There was a pause, when Bad put a hand on George’s shoulder— who was now leaning almost over the edge of the bridge, watching as Dream paddled away, _praying that the fire resistance would wear off_ — and said something low.

“Let’s get back to the portal before he can, we can guard it,” he whispered. His mic was off. “There’s no way he can slip behind us with it surrounded in netherack. We’ll wait for Sapnap, and for Dream’s effects to run out.”

There was room for error. But, there wasn’t really a better idea at the moment… Dream was on the other side of the lake by now. There also wasn’t a second portal. So, George nodded, got off his knees, and followed BadBoyHalo back through the soulsand valley.

. . .

“Ugh, is he even coming back?”

“He has to. There’s literally _nowhere_ else he can go.”

“What is he _doing_ , then? Dancing with the piglins?”

“He could be trading with them, maybe. Do you know if he has pearls yet?”

George scoffed. “Don’t ask _me_.”

They had been in the Nether for an hour. That was sixty minutes of waiting for Dream to get in gear and actually start trying to beat the game. George and Bad had been under the surface of the Nether for a while now, lingering by the portal while Sapnap tried to find his way there and Dream did who-knows-what. The speedrunner had been silent for most of it, and by the looks of it, wasn’t making any progress, or getting any closer to the portal.

George pulled out his compass after a while, and stared at it. The needle was worryingly still. Had Dream left the Nether, or was he just really, _really_ far away?

“He hasn’t left, has he? The Nether.”

Bad glanced at his own compass. “I don’t know,” he replied. “I didn’t think Dream could, he’s got no water or obsidian on him. Wanna ask?”

George threw his head back and laughed, but he adjusted his mic anyway. 

“Dream? You’ve been awfully quiet, Dream,” he spoke up with a smile.

Silence, then his headset crackled. Dream’s response, “Well, the Nether’s stressful sometimes.”

George’s brow furrowed. Just the way he _said it_. Usually when Dream lied his voice stayed completely monotone— so the hunters wouldn’t know either way. But, here his sentence wavered, and he practically gave himself away.

“Okay. He’s up to something,” the Brit replied immediately, prompting Dream to protest loudly over the call. “Does he have obsidian at all? When did he get it?”

Bad quickly pulled out his communicator and skimmed through the chat. He reached the top, scrolled down, and stopped.

“He _has_!” Bad exclaimed, tangling a hand in his hood, before pointing to an early _**[Ice Bucket Challenge]**_ advancement completed by the man himself. “Muffins, he got some at the beginning. Probably from the village! I missed it.” Bad groaned, and George was quick to follow.

Now aware that Dream could or had already left the Nether dimension, George stood up. Now they had even less time to stop the speedrunner.

“I need to catch up with him,” George announced, slipping a bow over his shoulder and firmly into his hands. “I’ll tell you the _minute_ I see him, we need to know where he is.”

Bad stood up quickly to protest. “No! We can’t split up again, it’ll mess us all up.”

“You wait for Sapnap, I’ll be right back.”

. . .

Five minutes later, two hundred blocks away, George’s eyes squinted on a Nether portal frame far in the distance. The inside swirled with purple. He didn’t know how long it had been there, but with the compass now locked on its form, he knew that Dream was long gone.

George’s pace quickened. How far ahead was he? 

“Guys, Dream’s definitely in the Overworld. I can _see_ his portal,” he reported.

Sap sighed loudly. “We’re coming. What are the coords?”

George hopped over a little lava stream, biting his cheek when the heel of his boot sank on the very edge. Moments later, his hand was resting on the cold exterior of the portal’s obsidian frame. So, it couldn’t be too old.

He opened his communicator and read the coordinates to Bad and Sapnap.

“Should I wait for you guys? I don’t know how far Dream’s gotten.”

There was a moment of silence, and Bad replied, “No, don’t wait.”

_But don’t die, either._

“We’ll come via the Overworld, maybe we can get an upper hand if we don’t follow directly in his footsteps.”

George hummed in agreement. His stomach churned when he stepped through the portal. The Overworld presented him with a large plains biome, the unbroken horizon displayed in some directions. A forest was far behind him, and what looked to be a village ahead in the distance. Heavy silence was only interrupted by buzzing bees and the soft hubbub of cows and sheep.

But, what really caught his attention were the darkening clouds that loomed over the whole scene. A strong, sudden wind blew through the long grass and his hair and brought the sharp smell of ozone with it. George was right.

A storm was coming, and coming quick. Behind him where the forest was a large mist of what he could only guess was rain was forming on that side of the sky. The wind picked up and he turned to the houses far in front of him.

“Guys, there’s an awful storm where I am.” George was forced to raise his voice over a howling wind. “I don’t know where Dream is, but I do know this’ll ruin his plans. I’ve got shelter but I’ll keep an eye out.”

“There’s some messy weather here, too,” Sapnap replied. His voice was cutting out.

George sighed. “I’ll call you guys back in the morning.” Sapnap muttered something in agreement and he stopped the call, deactivating his communicator.

Before he could look up, something pressed against his chest. His eyes flicked to the sharpened tip of a diamond sword pointed at his heart, and George slowly glanced up at the man in front of him.

Dream must have snuck up on him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, wanna know something?  
> I’m starting a new story! (Yes, I’ll still work on this one)  
> It’s about all the Dream SMP stuff, and is a sort of canon divergent fic or AU, I dunno which  
> I haven’t started writing yet but I’ve got all my plot and outlines done, and hopefully it’ll be out by the end of next week! (Hoping ppl will like it, I’ve got big plans) Anyway get HYPED and pray for me there is a lot


	7. Calm During the Storm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *writes 5.5K word chapter for Chekhov’s Gun without breaking a sweat*
> 
> *can’t reach 2K here*
> 
> A bit of a shorter chapter, but a wholesome one anyway! I think I like this one, hope you do too :)

“You’re joking.”

Dream didn’t laugh, but his impish grin could outshine the sun. George stiffened, pausing quickly to look around. The storm wasn’t getting any better.

He sighed, partially giving in. There was no way he got out of this with all his items. This was it, where he lost all his armor and progress and track on Dream, and spawned back in his bed in the caves to disappoint his friends. He stepped back, lifting his hands in mock-surrender. Dream only raised the weapon to his throat. 

Then, George got an idea.

“Fine, fine, you got me,” George said. His eyes flicked up to the heavy skies. “Before you kill me, Dream, look at the weather. It’ll be pouring literal cats and dogs soon.”

The speedrunner raised an eyebrow. “So? Manhunts don’t have snow days.”

“Communicators aren’t working. My set has no signal. I’m helpless right now, I’m gonna lose everything and you’ll be stuck in a storm without making any progress.” At Dream’s confusion, George got to the point. “Let’s just take a break! I see the village over there— we can stay there until it’s over and go our separate ways. No killing, no wasted time.”

Dream narrowed his eyes, but his grip on his weapon was wavering. “I see what you’re doing. You’re just delaying everything.”

“The others don’t need to know! It’s just a quick truce. We can maybe relax a bit, this isn’t the end of the world.”

The perfect little gust of wind blew through them, carrying a spray of cold rain from the quickly approaching storm. More wind in the distance howled, and a tiny flash of lightning blinked behind George. They both shivered, and the speedrunner went quiet, thinking.

After a hot minute, Dream dropped his arm and stepped back. “Fine,” he sighed, eyeing the hunter carefully. “One break. But I’m leaving in the morning, and I’m not letting you catch up.”

George grinned, relieved. “Okay, okay. Great.”

. . .

Neither of them had even _thought_ of breaking the truce.

They were staying in one of the empty village huts, huddled in the warmth and sheltered from the wind and pelting rain. The house was completely barren other than a dinky wooden table— and George figured Dream had already collected the single bed for the End fight— forcing the both of them to sit on the floor with their backs to the wall. George sat in the corner, with the best view of the window, where he could track the storm and watch as streaks of electricity branched out to touch the ground.

Dream was sitting next to him, on his right, minding his business. The mood of the room was laid-back, cozy— opposite of what a Manhunt was supposed to be. Here, George wasn’t afraid of Dream, like he was before. Here felt like any other time with Dream. 

That didn’t mean there wasn’t a slight air of tension. Neither of them had said much, leaving the hut in quiet. And of course, George couldn’t ignore the sharp and shining axe on Dream’s side of the wall, leaned against the table handle-up, there for protection.

Just for protection. Nothing more. 

After a minute, Dream hummed, breaking the silence. “This storm’ll last a while,” he mumbled.

George looked at him inquiringly. “Hmm? How long do you think?”

“Definitely won’t end before morning. Like I thought.”

“Then… we’ll be here all night.” George groaned, and rubbed a hand over his face. “This sucks.”

Dream shrugged. “Could be worse. At least the others know you’ll be stuck here awhile.”

George chuckled dryly, avoiding Dream’s masked gaze by looking out the window. “I can’t believe I convinced you to do this.” He grinned. “Bad’ll be so mad if he finds out. This is ridiculous.”

Dream laughed. “I know, just relax. This Manhunt was for fun anyways.”

The room fell in silence once more— and this time it was a little bit more comfortable. The rain was therapeutic and more thunder rolled, drowning out the noises of a normally busy village. Dream shifted and pulled a few loaves of bread from his inventory, even sharing a couple with George. They hung out without conversation, eating and listening to the wind. 

Dream realized how much he actually needed it. It was nice to finally relax, after so much stress from the Manhunts and his server drama and the outside world. Even if it was raining, and the wooden floors and walls were sore on his back, he could spend some time with George.

“So…” George spoke up. “That god apple play.”

Dream threw his head back and really laughed, taken by surprise. His friend was really grasping at straws for a conversation topic. “Don’t… we’re not talking about that now.”

“Wasn’t bad. Wasn’t the best,” George continued, coming off as a food critic judging a diner’s lunch special. “Just annoying, to be honest. And unoriginal.”

“Stop, stop. It was funny, and you know it.”

“No, it really wasn’t.”

Dream chuckled for a while, shoulders shaking, and eventually, George joined him. It would never get old— bugging his friends like this, surprising and frustrating them with moves they couldn’t have seen coming, even the dumber ones. And even better, they could never stay mad at him for long.

George stopped for a minute to continue with a grin, “This whole hunt’s been fun and all, but the _real_ funny bit was when I caught you...”

His friend trailed off suddenly, eyes round, as if he’d been caught telling something he wasn’t supposed to. Dream turned to him and frowned, wondering what George was—

Oh. _Oh._

“...Sorry.” George stammered quickly.

He was apologizing. Dream didn’t quite know how to feel about that, so he tilted his head and replied slowly, “No, s’fine. Honest mistake.”

“You sure?” George looked surprised.

Dream nodded. “Yeah, of course.” That night was a rough one for him— he was already tired and aggravated, and the stress of a hunter catching him off guard tipped the boat. He ran his thumb over the rim of his mask thinking about it. “I don’t really mind. If it had been anyone else, though… maybe.”

George sighed, relieved, yet he went on. “What’s the whole deal with that, anyway? You’ve known Bad and I for like, years now. And I understand you’re a private person, but Sapnap too? Really?”

Dream froze, stunned. 

Did he mean that when he said it? Yeah, he _never_ took off his mask, but that was like, his thing. He’d finally gotten comfortable, safe in the thought that he remained unseen. Was George actually mad about it?

His friend looked genuinely curious, at the least, George always was— but he couldn’t help but notice the bite in his words. He wasn’t _actually_ upset, right?

Well, Dream supposed he had a right to be. With that... why _did_ he have to wear the thing around him and everyone else, too? He knew them, better than anyone, they were his friends. 

Why hadn’t he thought about this before?

George must have taken his silence and stiff posture as anger, because he apologized again. 

“Sorry if I crossed a line.”

Dream turned to him quickly and raised his hands. “No, no. You’re fine.” It hurt a little bit, seeing his friend afraid of his temper. “This is a me thing, if anything.”

The speedrunner’s gaze shifted to the ceiling, as he attempted to change subject and answer George’s question. “I really don’t know why I haven’t just shown you guys, to be honest.”

_Ah._ A face reveal. _That_ was what he was dreading.

George blinked. “It’s not that hard, you know.”

He barked a laugh at his friend’s sudden snark. “Shut up. I dunno, I guess I just don’t like being seen.” Dream pulled his knees up to his chest. “It’s selfish. I know.”

There was a flicker of silence. 

“Understandable, actually.”

Dream turned his head to George. His friend blinked back, glasses pushed above his forehead, leaving his brown eyes sincere and open to the world, flashing orange from torchlight. “...Really?”

He almost wished George could see his face again, instead of staring at an emotionless white mask, so Dream could look as earnest as he did. 

“Yeah. I get it.”

Dream looked back ahead, his chin resting on the arms wrapped around his knees. He smiled. “That’s nice to hear.”

A moment passed, and George yawned beside him, reminding Dream of their vastly contrasting sleep schedules. 

“Hey, thanks for not killing me,” he said, exhaustion creeping into his voice. His head was leaning against the wall.

Dream smirked. “No problem.”

Less than half a minute later, George had completely passed out, leaving Dream alone in the quiet. And the more he thought about it, the more he wanted to stay inside with his friend, instead of leaving— like he’d debated, for his progress. 

So, he didn’t move, even though the thunder had just quit.

. . .

George woke up with a jolt, eyes snapping open and his mind racing.

_Shoot, I slept in again, didn’t I? What time is it?_

A quick glance at the bright blue sky from his window told him the sun was up— which was already a bad sign— and the weather had completely cleared, soft white clouds drifting lazily past the stratosphere. A second look told him Dream was gone, as well as most of his stuff, and the village was completely quiet other than its everyday buzz. 

The speedrunner was long gone, and George was left behind for his friends to find.

Leaning forward, he cracked stiff joints and rubbed his aching muscles, then realized that hadn’t happened yet. He opened his pulsing communicator to a string of messages mostly from Bad, asking for his location.

George bit his cheek. He didn’t want to deal with that right now.

So he ignored them, at first, and dialed Dream instead, donning his headset and waiting for his friend’s voice to echo through it.

“Morning,” the speedrunner greeted. He sounded out of breath.

“Hey, it’s just me right now.” George stood up, carefully peeking out the glass to see if he could spot Bad or Sapnap close by. “We… did agree we wouldn’t speak a word about the truce, right? They’ll be here soon and I don’t want to deal with an explanation at the moment.”

There was a pause, before Dream chuckled. “Yeah, of course.”

“ _Don’t_ tell them!” George snapped at his indifference, and sarcasm.

He laughed loudly, and replied, “I won’t, I won’t. Fine. But I will tell them about the sleep talking.”

“Wha—”

But Dream had already hung up, throwing George back into the still village hut. Behind the noise-muffling wooden walls, distant villagers hummed and livestock groaned, and George was pretty sure those were Sapnap’s bootsteps outside.

Pulling himself together, he took a deep breath and headed out the door.

The Manhunt— with or without the hunters’ consents— had officially restarted.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey um shameful promo here but mind checking my newest work? Especially if ur into the DreamSMP story, I worked real hard on it and it would mean a lot <3

**Author's Note:**

> Most likely will end around ten chapters, but I’m not entirely sure. High school is also important so updates will be random. Hope you enjoy it!


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